On Tuesday, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion unveiled its brand new library of objects, an innovative project proposed by citizens Karine La Flèche and Stephanie Dornenburg as part of the 2022 participatory budget.

Users of the municipal library can now borrow any of the 130 or so objects in the library. Board games, toys, kitchen items, tools, video game consoles, stimulation kits for people with special needs - it's all there. 

"If the object library aims to reduce single-use purchases by encouraging sharing between citizens, it will also enable users to experiment with a device before making the decision to acquire it. This could be the case for an ice cream machine, a therapy lamp, a karaoke machine or a video game console," explains Annick Lemay, head of the library division.

"The participatory budget is one of the actions included in the 2020 > 2025 Inhabited by my city strategic plan, which the city is implementing to promote a culture of public participation and encourage citizen involvement. It's an opportunity for citizens to propose projects that are close to their hearts, and to work with city teams to bring them to fruition. The library of objects is the concrete expression of the project submitted by Mesdames La Flèche and Dornenburg as part of the very first participatory budget," declared Mayor Guy Pilon.

How the object library works

To enable citizens to make the most of this new service, only one object may be borrowed at a time, for a period of 10 days. As with other library items, users can reserve an item at the circulation desk or via their subscriber file. For security reasons, only subscribers aged 18 and over are authorized to borrow items from the library. Finally, items must be returned to the counter and not not in the book chute.

"This project fits in perfectly with the library's mission and the plans we had in mind for our future library, currently under construction. It is anticipated that other items, such as musical instruments, will be added to the collection in the medium and long term," concluded Vincent Bastien, Director of the Leisure and Culture Department.

The complete list of items in the Object Library is available at biblio.ville.vaudreuil-dorion.qc.ca, under Services / Object Library.